Fish tongs



Dec. 26, 1933.

w. H. WENDT 1,941,064

FISH TONGS Filed Feb. 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l W/L L IAM 19'. WE N07- Patented Dec. 26, 1933 1,941,064 rrsn ToNGs William H. w eds, Little Falls, Minn; t g Aplilicationfebruaryi, 1932. SerialNo: 590,750U e This invention relates to fish tongs or'gaffs, and

has .for' its objectthe'production of a'simple and efficient fish tong which'is provided with aspecially' constructed fish-gripping end whereby the body or a fish may becompletely circled by the "gripping jaws 'ofthe tongs without injury to the body of the fish.

Another object of this invention is. the production of a simple and efiicient toggle arrangement for efficiently gripping the body of a fish-and facilitating thehandling thereof.

A still further object of this lnvention is the production of a simple and efficient foldablefish tong, whereby the shank of the tong maybe folded sofas to accommodatethe fish tong when tolded, in an ordinary tackle box.

'A still furtherobj'ect'o'fthis invention is the production of a simple and efficient fish tong, the

- operating link of which is so. assembled and con-' nected withthe gripping toggle as to'permit the shank to 'be readily folded when'th'e operating.

link is pulled inwardly, thereby permitting the folding of the tongs without disassembling the connection between the operating grip or trigger ,anfd'the gripping'tongs,ortoggles. I

'With these andother ob'ji'ec'ts in view, the invention consists in certainfnovel constructions,

combinations and arrangements of parts as will behereinafter: fully described and claimed. In thedrawingszg- ,7 Figure l'isaside elevation of thefish tongs;

Figure 2 is'a side elevation of the fish tongs looking at an opposite side with respectto that shownin Figure 1, a certain portion of the hand grip being, shown in section; Figure 3"is afragmentary at the inner'ia'ce of the tongs, aportion of the hand grip being broken away-anda portion of therouter toggle fingers being broken away, the

toggle'members being shown in a contracted position? t Figure l is a section takenfon line 4-4'of' Figure 1;. Figure 5' is a section taken 'on line 5-5 of, Figure'l;

Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6,-6 of Figure 3, the section extending through the'entire'leng h;

of the fish tongs? "Figure? is-a side elevation of the tongs in' a -foldedposition; L I

' Figure 8 is anedge elevation of the tongs in a folded positioni Figure 9.1; a 1ongituqma1 sectionalview may: defined by line b fi of: Figure 3, i ish he ive n ti n tween h see on "a plane side elevation looking v tions of the shank of the toggle, showing the sections'in an extended position andth'e arrangement' of the connecting pull-rods in aiposition ready for folding;

' Figure 10 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to Figure Qta'ken on alplane defined by line 6 6 a of Figure 3, one section of the shank being shown in a'partly folded position; and Figure 11 is a view similar to- Figures 9 andlO,

' one section of the shank being shown in folded" position; V I

' By refe'rringto the drawings, it will be seen that 1 designates the shank of the fish tongs which comprises a, primary section 2iand 'an' auxiliary section 3', which sections are pivotally connected together, asat 4, the'primary section 2lhaving'a' projecting and"overhanging-tongue '5 which'isv bifurcated asatfi, for'receiving'th'e clamping bolt '7 which is carried by'the auxiliary section' 3, the bolt 7 passing through the elongated slot 8 formed in the auxiliary section 3'. A "thumb nut 9 I is threaded upon the clamping bolt '7' and is'adaptedf tq firmly; engage the *tonguef5 and firmly lock 'the primary and auxiliary sections 2 1and3 of the shank l, in extended positionssuch as is shown in Figu'res'l, 2, 3,-and 6; The'bolt or screw 7 may be moved longitudinally within the slot '8 for the purposeofdisengag'ingthe bifurcated portion 6- of the 'tongue'5 when it is desired to fold'the auxil iary section 3 back upon theprimar'ysection'2 of the shank l.

The primary section 2 of the shank 115 provided with ahook-shaped hand-grip 10, having a hand j,,

abutment stop 11 formed near the top "andonef side: thereof to facilitate thegripping of the handgrip 10 by the opera'tor. This hook-shaped grip' 10 preferably extends laterally of the shank 1;,as"

shownin Figure 2, in order. to house the trigger member 12, whichtrigger member 12 ispivotally secured to the grip portion 10, as'at 13, and a coil spring 14 is carried'by the grip portion 10"and i engages the trigger member 12 to hold the trigger" member 12'under tension. 'rhis triggermeniberIZ j is provided withia hooked end 15 to'facilitate the of "the fingers'from the trigger '12. The trigger 12 is also provided with a projecting finger 16' which is connected to the link 17 of the pull-rod, as at '18; The'bridge 19 is'f ormed'upon the primary section2 of the shank 1 and'spans the link 105 17 to holdthe same against accidental displacement fromthe primary sectionl2'of the shank. 1'. The outer extremity ofithe'link 17 is provided'fwith an eye 20 which engages theofi-set ehd21'ofith'e' gripping, of the triggerjand'preventthe slipping u nkizzsnd m Pun 1 "2 s 229- 1 vided with a suitable eye or similar connection 24 for engaging the pivot pin 23 of the toggle arrangement 25. This pin 23 is slidably mounted within the longitudinally extending slot 26 formed in the auxiliary section 3 of the shank l, as shown in Figures 2 and 6 of the drawings. As shown in Figure 2, as well as Figures 1 and 3, the auxiliary section 3 of the shank 1 is flared slightly as indicated at '27 to constitute the supporting shoe for the sliding movement of the toggle "arrangement 25.

This toggle arrangement comprises a pair of gripping jaws, each gripping jaw embodying the pivoted lever 28 which is pivotally secured, as at 29, to the auxiliary section 3 of the shank 1, and each lever 28 is in turn pivotally connected at its upper end to a link 30, eachlink 30 of the jaws being in turn pivotally connected to the pin 23, previously described. Finger hooks 31 are pivotally securedas at 32, to the lower ends of the levers 28, which fingerhooks 31 are provided with inturned hooked ends 33. Each lever 28 carries the link at which is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 35 through which a pin 36 passes for securing the links 34 to the levers 28, as shown. The links 34 are in turn providedwith longitudinally extending slots 37 intheir outer endsthrough which the securing pins 38 pass,

iv which pins also engage the lifting books 31 at a pull upon the pull-rodv 17, thereby pulling upon.

point beyond the pivot pins 32, as shown. The inner ends of the links 34 are in turn connected to a link 39 which link 39 is also secured to the pivot pin 23 previously described.

The operation of the device is as follows:-The operator will grip the hand-grip 10 in one hand, and pass his fingers under the trigger member 12. Then by pulling upon the trigger member 12, .the same will pivot upon its pivot pin 13v and will the links or pull-rod 22 and moving the pin 23 within the longitudinally extending slot 26. This movement of the toggle mechanism will pull upwardly upon the links 30, thereby swinging the levers'j28 inwardly at their outer ends, and at the sametim'e pull upwardly upon the links 34 and this will'cause the lifting hook fingers 31 to be.

swung inwardly to a position such as is shown in dotted lines in Figure 2.' In this position as shown in dotted lines, the body of a fish may be easily encircled between the jaws of the toggle mechanism without seriously injuring the body of the fish and without killing the fish. The fish may then be swung without injury in the usual man- -,.-ner, while still alive and without serious, injury to the fish. The handling of the fishin this manner :will greatly facilitate the handling of the fish and will enable the fish to be kept fresh for a' considerable length of time, even after the same ..have been strung." I

When it is desired to fold the fish tongs in order to place the same in the usual tackle box, the finger grips 12 will be pulled by the operator after the, thumb nut ,9 has beenjfirst released from the bifurcated portion 6 of the tongue 5.

" The pulling of the trigger 12 must swing the same to such an extent as to cause the eye 20 to move into approximate alignment with the pivot pins 4, whereupon the auxiliary. section 3 may be then .swung first to the position shown in Figure 10,

and then the position shown in Figure 11, in a completely collapsed position upon the primary section 2, in this way permitting the device to be accommodated in a minimum amount of space andat the same time without the necessity of disconnecting the link 17 and the link 22.

lease the bolt 7 and move the same out of vcontact with'th'e bifurcated end 6 and by pulling upon the trigger 12, the two sections of the shank 1 may be swung to a collapsed or folded position.

It should be further understood that certain detail changes in the mechanical construction may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, so long as these changes fall within the scope of the appended claims. Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is: V

1. A device of the class described 7 comprising a shank, said shank comprising'a pair of pivotally connected sections, a hand-grip carried by one section, a trigger member carriedby said handgrip, a plurality of gripping toggles carupon the other without dis connectin'g the link sections of the trigger and togglemembers. 7

2. A device of the class described comprising a sectional shank, means for pivotally'connecting the sections of said shanktogether, a hand-grip carried by one section of said shank, a trigger carried by said hand-grip, a plurality of gripping jaws carried by the other section of' said shank,

a sectional pull-rod connecting said triggerto said gripping jaws, said sectional pull-rod having a pivot connection between the sections capable of being moved into alignment with the'pivot of sections may be folded upon the other shank section without disconnecting said pull-rod from the trigger and gripping jaws, and means for locking the said sections in an extended position.

3. A device of the class described comprising a shank, saidshank comprising a primary and an auxiliary section, means for pivotally connecting said shank section'whereby one of said shank said sections together, one of said sectionspro-.

vided with a projecting bifurcated tongue, the other section being provided with a longitudinally extending slot, a clamping bolt passing through said slot and adapted to be moved into engagement with said bifurcated tongue, an operating trigger, a sectional pull-rod connected to said trigger, and liftingjaws carried by said shank, and connected to said pull-rod for actuating said jaws from said trigger.

4. A fish tong of the class described comprising a shank, a plurality of jaws carried by said shank, means for actuating said jaws, each jaw comprising a pivoted lever arranged in cross relation, links connecting the inner ends ofsaid.

levers, lifting hooks pivotally secured to the outer ends of saidlevers, links slidably connected to said levers and said lifting hooks, a link for connecting said first-mentioned and said last-mentioned links, for pulling the outer ends of 'saidlifting hooks inwardly as said levers are moved to-' ward each other, and means for returning'the parts to an open position when released'.

5. A device of the class described comprising a shank, an operating trigger, a pair of jaws piv-.

' be lifted thereby, and spring means engaging said trigger for returning the various parts of said jaws to an open position when said trigger is released.

6. A device of the class described comprising ashank, a hand grip having an open side andv also a closed side, a trigger pivotally secured to the closed side of said hand grip and being provided with a projecting extension adapted to be engaged by the fingers of an operator, lifting jaws carried by said shank, a pull rod connected to said jaws and passing longitudinally of the shank, and said trigger having a projecting finger overhanging one end ofsaid shank and engaging said pull rod for facilitating the operation ofthe said jaws as said trigger is operated.

WILLIAM H. WENDT. 

